Citizen-militia group frees 900 child soldiers used against Boko Haram

By Paul Carsten

May 11, 2019 — 12.25pm

Abuja: A regional militia allied with Nigerian government forces has freed almost 900 children it had used in the war against Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

The move brought the total number of children freed to more than 1700. Non-state armed groups embroiled in the decade-long conflict against the terrorist group recruited more than 3500 children between 2013 and 2017 in Nigeria's north-east, according to UNICEF.

Children displaced after attacks by Boko Haram, play in a camp of internal displaced people, in Yola, Nigeria.Credit:AP

"[This] is a step in the right direction for the protection of children's rights and must be recognised and encouraged," UNICEF Nigeria chief Mohamed Fall said.

"Children of north east Nigeria have borne the brunt of this conflict. They have been used by armed groups in combatant and non-combatant roles and witnessed death, killing and violence."

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The pro-government militia group, made up of residents of north-east Nigeria was formed to take on Boko Haram. It had committed in September 2017 to ending their use of children in the conflict. In October it released 833 were released.

Some credit the group, known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, with making early headway against Boko Haram in urban areas, using its local knowledge to identify people affiliated with the militants, although also drawing allegations that it sometimes used its power to settle scores in localised feuds.

It is not clear how many children in total have been drawn into Nigerian armed groups or how they have been recruited. Videos seen by Reuters show child soldiers rescued from Boko Haram demonstrating to Nigerian troops how they were trained to fight and shoot rifles.

Nigeria's war against two jihadist groups, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, has left more than 30,000 people dead and displaced millions more, with the Islamist insurgencies showing little sign of ending.

UNICEF's work in north-east Nigeria has at time angered authorities. In December, the military briefly suspended the agency's work amid allegations that UNICEF staff spied on behalf of militants in the restive region.

The north-east of Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and biggest energy producer, is rife with abuses on both sides of the conflict - from the recruitment of children to extrajudicial killings and rapes, according to human rights groups.